8.4.14 Aiding human readability

Messages created in accordance with this part of the RDR standard are designed so that they can be ingested and processed automatically. However, when establishing a new message exchange it may be helpful for humans to be able read a file. The same may be true for error handling during normal operations.

It is therefore recommended, for each Record type used in a message created in accordance with this part of the standard, to include above the first actual Record data an additional Record that sets out, once, all the Cell “headings” for that particular Record.

The first Cell of the “headings” Record shall be populated with the relevant Record identifier, preceded by a hash symbol (“#”) as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 – Human readable layout of a message created in accordance with this part of the RDR standard.

Figure 4 shows a message (with only the first few Cells shown) created in accordance with this part of the RDR standard loaded into a spreadsheet application, with some rows coloured to aid readability.

When creating such “headings” Records, the sender should ensure to use (i) the correct Record identifier (specifically: the correct version of the Record identifier) for the profile version used and (ii) the correct Cell names. While failing to this shall not cause automated ingestion to fail as these lines shall be ignored, they might lead to recipients questioning whether the remainder of the message is following the standard correctly.

The table that follows provides sample data for a RightsClaimConflictNotification message with only one Record. Header and Footer Record have been omitted here.

The message has been transposed for ease of displaying the Record name and corresponding values, which would otherwise be presented as in Figure 4 above.

Table 4 – Sample message transposed with only one Record for display purposes only, created in accordance with this part of the RDR standard.

The following table provides sample data for a RightsClaimConflictResponse message with only one Record. Header and Footer Record have been omitted here.

The message has been transposed for ease of displaying the Record name and corresponding values, which would otherwise be presented as in Figure 4 above.

Table 5 – Sample message transposed with only one Record for display purposes only, created in accordance with this part of the RDR standard